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MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014
he design for the new East Bank Berbice road is expected to be available next month. So says Design Engineer of the Public Works Ministry, Kelvin Clark. He was at the time speaking with <Berbice Times> at the end of a stakeholders’ consultation on the New East Bank Berbice Main Access Road, on Tuesday. Clark explained that the intention of the consultation was to get feedback from residents, noting that the feedback will be used as the basis for the design of the road. “It is the residents who have to supply us with information so that we can have it put into the road design,” he said. Several hundred persons flocked the Edinburgh Primary School where the meeting was held and expressed their concerns. Some suggested that the new road should be constructed so that it illuminates the four turns at Islington, Gay Park and Providence. “We need to get concrete drains and not mud drains from Islington to Glasgow,” one resident told officials from the Public Works Ministry. It is expected that the project will see the 23mile road from Islington to Mara being reconstructed, the first six miles of which residents say needs to be widened. According to some, the first seven miles is the most worrying part of the road. “The road from Sisters Village to Zorgenflect was built by Guyconstruct and has a good foundation.” One resident said. The Village of Zorgen Vlygt is situated 19 miles out of New Amsterdam. Residents who live beyond that stretch of road did not let the opportunity pass to make their contributions at the meeting. According to them, the last five miles of road leading into Mara has no foundation. “It is a dam,” one resident said. “There is need for a proper foundation
Issue No. 030
there. They tried to repair the road a few years ago, but after a week, everything washed away.” Another resident noted that during the rainy season, two tractors will join together to pull a trailer through that stretch of road. “When the dry weather come on you see the tractors fetching the houses out… because people just keep moving out from the place.” The poor condition of the upper East Bank road was touted as being the main contributory factor for the lack of development at Mara for the past two decades. Residents also made note of the amount of heavily laden trucks that use the road and called for the foundation to reflect that in the design. Meanwhile, a call was also made for the eroding river bank which is next to the current road to be addressed. Following Tuesday’s meeting, engineers will visit the road and then document concerns coming out of the public consultation. The design for the new East Bank Berbice road is expected to become available on or before July 21. “We are working under tight constraints because the President is adamant that he needs to get this project started this year.” Apart from the Design Engineer, Public Works Ministry Socio-environmental Expert Shannon Denny also represented the Ministry. A team of consultants from EXP Semcor, village representatives headed by Peter Allawie were also present. Clark said he was satisfied with the outcome of the meeting. “The whole idea is to hear from stakeholders, hear what is on their minds and how passionate there are about the project and the turn out here is excellent. I have never seen anything like this at any one of the consultations that we have done so far.”
An East Bank Berbice resident gets his point over
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